On today’s show, I’m sitting down with Josie Barnhart, who is the Republican vice chair of the New Hanover County Board of Education and also a mother of children in the district.
Back in May, those two roles intersected when Barnhart — as a parent — challenged the book Blended, by Sharon Draper, which she felt was inappropriate, specifically, she thought the theme of racial profiling, leading to the book’s young female protagonist being accidentally shot by a police officer, was too mature for younger readers. Eventually, Barnhart took her case to the district committee, asking to remove the book from the school system as a whole. In the end, Superintendent Dr. Christopher Barnes came up with something of a compromise solution, removing the book from 3rd-grade libraries and requiring parental permission for 4th and 5th-grade students.
At the time, Barnhart voiced concern that WHQR had identified her in our reporting, saying she had challenged the book in her capacity as a mother, not a school board member. We felt that her role in elected office presented a clear complication — even a potential conflict of interest — and that made her challenge more newsworthy than if she’d just been a private citizen, especially because her challenge was not just for her child’s classroom, but for the whole school district.
I think it's fair to say that Barnhart and I didn't see eye-to-eye on the reporting at the time, but we’ve spoken a few times since, agreeing that there were some tough questions raised by the book challenge that felt unresolved — and we both felt it would be beneficial to have a conversation about it. Life happens, and our schedules didn’t line up for a few months, but we felt it was still an important discussion to have, so on Tuesday afternoon, she came to the WHQR studio to talk it through.
Related reporting and links:
- Wrightsboro parent pushing for book ban, appeals after school committee rejects their challenge
- NHCS superintendent addresses his decision to overrule district committee on "Blended" challenge
- Sunday Edition: On Book Bans and Parents' Rights
- The Left’s Insatiable Appetite to be Triggered: WHQR’s Disgraceful Attack on a Republican Parent (The Wilmington Standard, formerly The Wilmington Conservative)
- Parent Speaks Out After Being Politically Targeted (The Wilmington Standard)
- WHQR Responds (The Wilmington Standard)
